Tiny Chat and Hashtags

Sometimes the unplanned leads to the best learning. Tonight, a few of us from the EC&I 831 class were searching for our beloved prof., Alec Couros, because we believed we had a class. He believed we had an e-mail with instructions for what we were to do and some actually received it while others were wondering what was going on. Anyway, I tweeted out that if anyone had an alternative way of getting a hold of Alec to let him know that we were wondering where he was. In the responses, it was suggested that we have class without him; @Capohanka suggested we meet in a bar, but considering the distance between us that was not a realistic option. She then suggested I do a hashtag and find him that way. Having no idea what a hashtag was I had to ask her to explain it to me. The conversation went as follows:

@capohanka explain the hashtag thing please

@Kicode hashtags are a way to tag tweets and then search for them as a group.

@capohanka okay so you attach it to the end of a tweet?

@Kicode yep. then you can search for the tag. Search for #itsummit.

starting a new hashtag - where in the world is courosa "witwi@courosa"

@capohanka it would like my last tweet?

@Kicode yes, but you put a "#" in front of it. He was at the #itsummit today so he prob just got home.

@capohanka Okay - learned something today ! Thanks for walking me through it! #witwi@courosa

I now understand what those comments were on Twitter but I was too shy to ask about! Thanks @capohanka!

During this conversation @bbcrfc (DLowry) suggested that our class meet in Tiny Chat. I had never heard of it before and told him I would have to check it out. I wasn't going to at the time, but something pushed me to check it out and I quickly learned that it was a very simple chat room that can be limited easily to only people you invite. However, I did a tweet with a link and was pleased to be joined by @kimcottini, @gracemcleod @bbcrfc @capohanka @leannemerkowsky @dslink and @courosa! Yes, we finally found him! The nice part though was that some of us in the EC&I 831 class had a sustained chat on Twitter that involved a few others from outside of the class including @bbcrfc @capohanka and @shareski! Some of my classmates added @bbcrfc as someone to follow on Twitter and we all got to learn a little more about each other while I got to learn about Tiny Chat and hashtags. Not a bad way to spend the evening!

Blogging with benefits!

When I began the EC&I 831 class back in January, I had a very vague idea about what blogs were, but I really was not sure how to find them on the internet and, therefore, largely ignored that realm. What I knew, I learned back in the fall before I started this class. I had met Alec Couros and I was certain he would expect us to take up blogging so I started to experiment with writing my own thoughts before the class began; I had no idea or expectation that much of what I would be learning in his class would be because of the blogs of others. At first, I was only following a few blogs, but when I realized the power of Google Reader and discovered links to blogs through Twitter, I quickly jumped at the opportunity to follow more. I am now following 45 blogs including 21 from my class and another class; I also have several others in the back of my mind that I may yet follow. I sometimes find myself reading and writing comments for several hours in the evening and I want to do more! I am not being mark driven; I am knowledge driven. There are so many people sharing ideas and tips about how to do things or where to find information that I have to put off some things that I would like to know about. Even with my efforts, I still have some 306 blog entries to read not including archived blogs. Obviously, learning to be selective in what you read and even who you read is an important skill to hone.

I have found out about many different applications that I have tried as a result of blogging and microblogging (Twitter). I am also getting comments from people who are thanking me for sharing what I've learned from others which leaves me with "warm fuzzies" by the way! I am being entertained and educated at the same time. I have found the experience of reading and reacting to what I read in a public manner to be a huge step in my own thinking. Ironically, I think I am becoming a more positive person as a result of being a critical reader and responder. I now have a better understanding of what it takes to put yourself out there in print and even if I don't agree fully with what I read, I find myself reacting positively. I share my thoughts on the topic and compliment the writer for stimulating discussion.

On the down side of blogging, it can be hard on the ego. You strive to put something in print that you hope others will see and react to, but often you end up with only a few comments and in some cases no comments (and sometimes after spending hours drafting your blog). The reverse is true as well; sometimes you get a comment from someone you don't know and you realize there are people paying attention and reflecting on your words.

I am now trying to learn more about the things that make a blog something worth reading. On Tuesday, March 10, my class was lead by Will Richardson who has been blogging since 2002 and is known for being a "trendsetter in Education."I asked him what does he consider to be the qualities of a good blog. First of all he did not define a good blog; he answered the question by giving the qualities of blogs that he likes to read. This is roughly what he said, " I like to read people who are willing to test their ideas who are not coming out saying this is the way the world is..., people who write well, who read widely and who have a certain amount of passion in their voice ..., people who are asking questions and engaging people in conversations, who make it about ideas..., people who provoke thinking and conversations ..." To hear Will himself you can visit the Elluminate session here. I liked his response; despite his experiences blogging, he framed his answer from his own perception and did not pretend to represent all readers of blogs. His humility is remarkable considering his achievements.

I often feel like I take more than I give online. However, when you consider the wealth of information available, I suppose we all take more than we give. Blogging is changing me into a contributer though, and I am enjoying writing in way I've never experienced before.

Update March 21, 2009

I found this blog on what makes a blog good and thought I would add it to this posting. It also includes a good activity for student bloggers. Thanks to Clarence Fisher for the excellent ideas.

Internet Ethics or Couros Causes Concern!

I've been thinking about internet ethics as a result of the discussions during Alec Couros' EC&I 831 class on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, titled Popular Issues in (Digital) Media Literacy. My thoughts actually began the night before when I noticed a blog that closely resembled another (I am not prepared to identify them here) and I began to ponder the idea of plagiarism on the web. With the cut and paste world we live, it is simply too easy to "borrow' writings from another person and claim ownership by making it look like your work. Don't get me wrong, I am totally fine with someone valuing my words enough that he might want to use them, but give credit or provide it as a link to your thoughts on the topic. I know many of my ideas for blogging have sprung from others, but I make sure I credit those who got me started.

Anyway, the class on Tuesday was timed appropriately for where my thoughts were going. I had begun to question the idea of ethical internet behaviour. From my point of view as an educator, I believe there is a higher standard for me. I wonder if all users should be held accountable, but I realize the reality is that you cannot police such a thing. Nevertheless, I wonder how many people consider themselves to be ethical in their use of the internet especially the social networking aspects when in reality they are involved in what may be considered unethical behaviour. For example, during class we were shown a video titled "David after Dentist" that was posted by the child's father. Some people were quick to condemn the father and I admit I was leaning that way myself until someone mentioned that it could have been posted for grandparents. But because of anonymous viewers sharing what they saw, the video gained popularity and spread throughout the wired world. While I am still suspicious of the father's motives for posting the unflattering video of his son, I am now wondering more about the ethics of us, the viewers who made it go viral. There is no doubt that the child in the video will have to live with this event his entire life whether he likes it or not and some really caring conscientious people in the world have helped make it possible by passing it on. Is that ethical behaviour for a person to share something about another person that could be potentially devastating? If the father is wrong for posting it, we are just as wrong for spreading it! I'm glad my most embarrassing moment(s) as a child were not captured on film and shared with the world; would people take me seriously now if they saw me in moments I would like to forget?

The next pictures in the presentation of the Oswald murder (see pictures above) awoke a memory of a former student that I taught over 2 decades ago. She had told me a story how some bullies had pasted (with glue) her face onto a nude picture and were showing it around town. She was humiliated and felt shame even though she had done no wrong. Flash ahead to the world today; photo manipulation in the digital age is easy to do and is happening with and without the knowledge of the person in the photograph. I actually am not against it if it is done by the person with rights to the photo or with permission from the person with rights to the photo, and if the person in the photo has agreed to let their image be altered (I gave permission here) and published. However, when you take a picture of a murder and you manipulate it for laughs, have you crossed a line? I immediately was struck by the manipulated image of the Oswald murder and I thought of his family. Do people consider their pain? Do people consider themselves as being disrespectful of life in general by laughing at a tragedy? Does the voyeuristic nature of the internet have us doing things we would not do if we were there? Are lives being ruined by maliciously altered images?

My consciousness about the internet and its potential harm was raised on Tuesday. And if I have advice, I will refer you to THE CORE RULES OF NETIQUETTE and rule number one, "Remember the human."

Images obtained from http://eci831.wikispaces.com/02-10-09.

The image of me with many arms was created by Shelley Deck @http://www.shelleydeck.com/

Trying to make sense of Twitter

I sat and viewed the Video: Teaching With Twitter - Chronicle.com that I found in the EC&I 831 "Reading List" and found myself understanding that to Twitter effectively you need to connect through your telephone and become a proficient "Texter". David Perry, a professor at the University of Texas, talks about using his iphone but I wonder about using any cel phone. This is something I will need to explore much more. So far after a little more than a day I've learned that Alec Couros has just returned to Regina from a conference and 'rhysatwork' in the land down under caught a mess of fish yesterday. I also learned that Alec has some strong opinions about some of the things that are wrong in school - teachers who yell and buildings that provide a place for kids to watch adults work. Good points I thought though I can't image kids not meeting in face to face schools. Interesting though that a couple of thoughts that Couros Twittered on made me pause and reflect. I have one more question before I go to bed; what is a twitter and what is a tweet or are they the same thing?

Goggle Reader and Labels

I dabbled into Goggle Reader last night and added the blogs of those in my class to Goggle Reader. Well today I played around with it a bit and learned that as I read through blogs that people had posted the number of blog entries to read automatically decreased. I was able to read through all the blogs of my classmates (ok - some I scanned) and I now know there is nothing left for me to read in their blogs as of 11:59 p.m. I now understand why Alec Couros was encouraging us to use Goggle Reader; I do not have to go to the participant page on the EC & I 831 Wiki (http://eci831.wikispaces.com/Directory) to find the blogs of my classmates and that can save a person quite a bit of time. I am wondering how to organize folders in Goggle Reader; I will have to visit the course tutorial and see what it says.

I am also wondering about the labels that we can attach to our blogs. I just started adding them to my last couple of blogs and I noticed I got more feedback from others on the web. I'm guessing by adding labels I make it easier for web surfers to find my writing with a goggle search. I think I'll do a search to test my hunch!